Amelia's House • North Acton — Restaurant in London

Amelia’s House had been sitting pretty on my “to-visit” list for ages. The hype was real – especially after they revamped the old Sandflames into something so different. So, when a friend actually recommended it, I was buzzing. Big mistake. Huge.

Let’s start with the “chicken Caesar salad”. I use quotation marks because calling that plate a Caesar salad feels like I’m telling a lie. And I’m not a liar. The chicken was a confusing science experiment – boiled? Fried? Incinerated? Whatever method they used, it clearly sucked every ounce of flavour out of it. It was so bland, - to the point that it was just white, hard to chew, and just disgusting that I had to remove bits from my plate. . I felt like I was being punished. The lettuce? A soggy, sad mess drowning in way too much sauce – I’m assuming they used that to give it flavour? I don’t know. It made me depressed. I had to basically season the damn thing myself just to make it slightly edible. A Caesar salad. How do you mess that up?

My friend ordered a steak – medium well. What arrived was… well, well. Like, really well. Dry, overcooked, and served with a side of mashed potatoes that had flavour of damp cardboard. Oh, and the mushrooms? You could barely see them under the avalanche of crispy onions. Why? Who knows. Maybe it was a culinary prank. Surprise, it’s not mushrooms – it’s just onions cosplaying. The chimichurri sauce was pure oil - America could have invaded it.

And because we clearly hadn’t suffered enough, my friend decided to try the shisha. Your usual frozen blueberry and raspberry. It was a savaco pipe, that smokes good right? Yeah no. that hit like a brick wall, harsh from the first pull and somehow never got better. Coal change? Service? Absolutely not. But hey – at least the vibes were cute, right?

Honestly, it feels like the entire budget went into the decor. Which, fair play, it is absolutely stunning. Summer vibes - gorgeous. A shame you can’t eat the wallpaper. Amelia’s House is the textbook definition of style over substance – pretty on the outside, disappointing on every plate.

I really tried to give this place the benefit of the doubt because I really wanted to like it because it was just such a lovely place to sit in, but that’s literally all it was, a lovely place to sit in. Tried to give them an excuse that maybe The staff were rushing, but they had no need. There’s only myself my friend and a table next to us, the whole place was empty.

Oh, and the one redeeming quality? Our waitress. She was genuinely lovely. She’s the only reason I even gave this place 2 stars

Oh btw parking is a myth. PLEASE use public transport.

And to top it off, we paid over £100? Joke ting.

I’m not want to write a shit review and deter potential business and profit away but this shit pissed me off. You can’t charge people the prices you do if the food does not reflect your status. People work hard for their money.

As someone who literally gets paid to cook, I wasn’t expecting Michelin-star magic. Just a decent meal. Instead, I left confused, slightly salty (unlike the food), and craving an actual Caesar salad from anywhere else.

Should have genuinely ...

I think we've finally found a business in London that has bridged the gap between perfect shisha and very good food. Usually in this city, you have to compromise between one or the other.

Not at Amelia's.

Upon entry and getting seated by the extremely friendly staff. We were given menus, one for shisha and one for food. The layouts and structure of the menus are designed perfectly and every small attention to detail at Amelia's was done with precision.

For shisha we ordered 2. One paan/melon combo and a frozen raspberry/mint. Both were as good as you can get in terms of shisha, all for an incredibly reasonable price of £26 per shisha. £52 in total excluding service charge. You won't find this anywhere else in London, unless there's a compromise in some way. Repeating myself once again, they don't compromise at Amelia's.

For the starters and the only unfortunate aspect about the whole experience, the fryer was broken so hot appetizers were unavailable for the entirety of our experience.

However the cold ones didn't disappoint.

The burrata was buttery, creamy and rich in flavour despite being light in texture.

The cacik had the perfect balance of zest, tang and acidic.

The bread felt as though we bit into clouds of dough, herby goodness.

The main was the star for me, everything was a star in all honesty but the main is the piece that deserves the real plaudits.

We went for the kofte kebab and as someone who's generally a very harsh critic due to my love of food and flavours. This beef kofte was special. Rich in flavour, beefy, meaty, smoky and the quality of the meat itself was high.

London can be very hit or miss with kofte kebab. I've been to restaurants charging 4x the amount where you'll be served something very bland lacking flavour.

For dessert our server suggested the chocolate tart with ice cream. Prior to my first bite, I was skeptical. I usually detest chocolate desserts outside as they'll be very sweet, sugary or far too rich.

Not with this brownie, once again everything was balanced and executed perfectly.

With my enthusiasm throughout the review one would assume they paid me for this. But I'm genuinely still in awe as to how well executed and impressive the whole experience was.

I will definitely be returning here time and time again.

My relatives who also came from Dubai were equally...

Shocking Experience – Poor Treatment & Arrogant Policies

After months of wanting to visit Amelia's, we finally made the trip — driving over an hour to get there. Sadly, what we experienced was disappointing, frustrating, and honestly, quite embarrassing.

We spent 15 minutes driving around looking for parking, had to call the venue for directions, and then paid for parking — only to be turned away at the door because my husband was wearing a smart designer tracksuit. The security guard informed us of a “strict dress code” on Fridays and Saturdays. Yet there is absolutely no clear mention of this policy anywhere online — not on their website or Instagram, even after we checked again while standing outside.

If you have a strict policy, it needs to be visible in several places — especially if it's going to be enforced so rigidly. The lack of communication felt dishonest and disrespectful.

What made things worse was that we were told to wait outside in the cold, as if they were doing us a favour even considering letting us in. It was uncomfortable, awkward, and felt humiliating.

To make it even more frustrating, a woman walked straight in while we were being refused, wearing a skirt so short you could see everything as she walked. So if this is about “maintaining standards,” those standards are being enforced with clear double standards and inconsistency.

We’ve visited top venues around the world — including just before this, at a restaurant in Knightsbridge, where we were welcomed with no issue. So to be treated like this at a shisha lounge tucked into a shabby corner of Acton was honestly laughable. I'm not sure who Amelia’s thinks they are.

This experience felt like a violation of fair treatment, common courtesy, and basic hospitality. After the effort we made, the money we spent, and the time we gave — we were met with arrogance, poor communication, and a total lack of respect.

We won’t be returning — and we’ll be warning others not to...